1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of accessories for lawn mowers. More specifically, it relates to an auxiliary blade apparatus for use on lawn mowers having a mower deck covering at least one rotary mower blade and a mower drive shaft joining the at least one rotary mower blade to a conventional mower drive pulley connected by a mower drive belt to a mower engine pulley. The auxiliary blade apparatus includes a blade assembly having an auxiliary deck for mounting to the side of the mower deck on hinged linkages. These hinged linkages permit the auxiliary deck to pivot upward to a tiled position over the mower deck to permit the mower to pass through a conventional gate in a yard fence, and to pivot downward to become substantially co-planar with the mower deck to widen the mower cutting path so that the yard can be mowed in fewer passes and less time. A pair of swivel-mounted wheels are attached to the pivoting free end of the auxiliary deck for supporting the blade assembly during mowing. An auxiliary drive pulley is mounted above the auxiliary deck on an auxiliary drive shaft. A rotary auxiliary blade is mounted on the auxiliary drive shaft underneath the auxiliary deck. The apparatus also includes a double drive pulley replacing one of the original mower single drive pulleys, the mower belt riding on one pulley portion of the double drive pulley, an auxiliary drive belt riding on the auxiliary drive pulley and on the other pulley portion of the double drive pulley. A spring-loaded belt tensioning pulley bears against the auxiliary drive belt between the auxiliary drive pulley and the double drive pulley. Inventive belt guards are provided to hold the auxiliary drive belt on the pulleys when the auxiliary deck is pivoted upward. The auxiliary deck can also be removed from the mower deck and the opening in the deck flange covered by an inventive cover plate assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have long been rotary lawn mowers for cutting the grass surrounding homes and businesses. Some of these mowers are designed primarily for use by professional lawn maintenance workers. These are wider than the conventional mower for home use, having two and often three rotary blades beneath a single mower deck. This sort of mower is well illustrated in the patent issued to Berrios, U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,733, on May 1, 1990. The wide cutting path of these mowers saves the maintenance worker valuable time by reducing the number of passes he must make to cover a given yard area. Yet the wide mower can be awkward or impossible to maneuver through a typical gate in a yard fence. The worker may risk injury by trying to lift and angle the mower through the gate. The only alternative has been to use a narrower mower and spend much more time doing the job.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a lawn mower auxiliary blade apparatus which does not hinder the passage of a mower through a gate and yet widens the cutting path of the mower beyond the gate width.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which can be attached to a conventional lawn mower, or provided with a conventional lawn mower as original equipment, and which can be tilted up to a compact position over the mower deck without drive belt disengagement from drive pulleys.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which effectively combines large and small lawn mowers in one mower, so that the purchase and storage costs of a second mower are saved.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which is removable from the mower so that the mower can be used independently as a small mower and a cover plate for covering the exposed opening in the mower deck flange.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which is simple, sturdy and reliable, and easy to install and maintain.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which is inexpensive to manufacture.